Two Black Cadillacs
by Harmony Goldstar
Summary: Zoe and Gillian are in situations more similar than they realize, and they don't even realize that anything is wrong. And when they do, their lives are irreversibly changed. Warning: character death. This is a darker story than any of my others, so be warned, but it just kept bothering me until I wrote it, and here it is!
1. Chapter 1: Zoe

**A/N: Okay, I still can't type very much... I'm mostly limited to author's notes, reviews & replies, email, and the occasional text. But, I wrote this on actual legit paper in while traveling, and then found a dictation app to use. So sorry if there are words in places that don't make sense. It's not always super accurate. Let me know, and I'll fix any errors. **

**Now, background for this story. It is based around the song 'Two Black Cadillacs' performed by Carrie Underwood. (Hence the title.) If you aren't familiar with the song, you should listen to it, or look up the lyrics. I would put them on here, but I've heard that's not allowed these days. This isn't a songfic; instead it is structured like my Harry Potter fic 'Dead Lilies.' So, without further ado, I present to you another creation from the scary place known as my mind.**

**Warning: This will become quite dark and involves a character death.**

**Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. The main plot events belong to Carrie Underwood. I'm just smashing it all together to make something that's hopefully interesting to read! **

_Zoe:_

Once again, the house was dark when Zoe drove in with Emily. She parked her shiny black Cadillac in the garage and opened the door to darkness. She wondered where he was.

"Em, call your father and find out when he's coming home," Zoe said. Emily rushed to the phone with the enthusiasm only a ten year old girl could have. Zoe smiled at her daughter and pulled a frozen dinner out to heat up.

"Well?" Zoe asked when Emily hung up the phone.

"He's working late again," Emily said. She looked a bit put out. Not that Zoe blamed her, because he had been working late a lot. She knew what it was like to start out in the business world, but she wished he was home more.

She put dinner in the oven to heat up she listened for the sound of clinking dishes as Emily set the table like she always did. When they didn't come, she turned around and found Emily standing in exactly the same spot as she had been before. Em looked like she wanted to say something, but wasn't sure how.

"Em?"

"Does dad work with someone named Gill?" Of all the things Zoe expected, this was not one. She tried to hide the shock and fear.

"No. Where did you hear that?" Zoe asked.

"He called to someone while he picked up the phone."

"Honey, I'm sure you misheard. Things you here at the beginning of calls like that aren't always clear. Cal works with Joel remember," Zoe reassured. Emily didn't look happy.

"He'll be home soon," Zoe said. Emily didn't reply. She pulled to place settings out and set the table.

Late that night when Emily was asleep and Cal still wasn't home, Zoe lay awake. She couldn't stop thinking about what her daughter had said. She didn't want to even go there in her thoughts. Sure, Cal worked late often, but his company was just getting off the ground. It was bound to happen. On top of that, his business partner was a guy. Joel. Some sort of voice specialist.

If Cal wasn't working, then he was probably out drinking with Joel. That was it. But, as far back as Zoe could recall, she had never actually met Joel. For all the time he spent working with Cal, she had never even met him.

She was going to have to go there in her thoughts.

Just as Zoe came to that conclusion, Cal stumbled into their room and passed out on the bed beside her. He was drunk; she could smell the alcohol on him. Drinking with Joel it was. The case must be going badly. Emily must have heard wrong.

Satisfied, Zoe finally fell asleep.

Early the next morning, Zoe woke up in a good mood. She sent Emily off to school with no trouble, and got ready for work. She stepped back into their room to check on Cal and she nearly tripped over her heels due to the darkness. But today she wasn't bothered by that.

She walked over to the bed, and watched Cal sleeping for a moment. As she turned to leave Cal grabbed her wrist.

"Zoe?" But Zoe was staring out the fingers of the hand that gripped her wrist. He wasn't wearing his ring. She slid her hand from his and said,

"Go back to sleep Cal," before walking away. She wasn't amused. She wasn't even angry. Furious was more accurate, although even that didn't quite sum up her feelings.

She may have slammed the door with more force than necessary and may have been more aggressive driving to work than normal. She may have been more snappish and quick to jump on the defense at work. She may have pretended that she was normal, but she didn't do a very good job. She wasn't even fooling herself.

By lunch, she decided just to take the rest of the day and head home to a hopefully empty house. For once she was pleased that the house was quiet and empty. Emily wouldn't be home for hours, and Cal, well, she had no idea what time he would show up tonight.

Zoe tossed her briefcase on the kitchen table and left her jacket over a chair. She kicked off her shoes and was just about to sit down for a little while when she saw Cal's cell phone on the counter.

He must have left it there when he went to work. Before she managed to talk herself out of it, she snatched it up and searched for recent calls. In Cal's call log, there was an unlabeled number that he had called almost every day at least once.

Zoe swallowed. If he was hiding a big secret, this was the way she was going to find out about it. Of course, if it was someone involved in the company, a client, she would just apologize and get on with her life. If not, well, Zoe wasn't sure what she would do.

Zoe made her decision with one slip of her finger, and began the call. She stepped out into the yard and waited as the phone rang.

**A/N: What do you think so far? Okay? & I promise, I am still attempting to work out another chapter for Spring Lies, Summer Changes. I have a hard time switching from typing to writing on paper in the middle of a story, so yeah. **


	2. Chapter 2: Gillian

**A/N: Okay, so I don't know if you guys want this chapter or not, but here it is. Any feedback would be appreciated! Thanks!**

_Gillian:_

Finally alone in the silence of her apartment, Gillian cursed when her personal cell rang. She knew where it was, and debated ignoring it. Whoever it was would probably just keep calling, so Gill located the phone and answered it.

It was Cal's number and she sighed. She had told him she had a bad headache when she had left earlier. If he thought he was going to get brownie points for checking up on her, he thought wrong.

"What do you want Cal? I told you..." Gill said, but was interrupted.

"I'm not Cal. Who exactly are you?"

"Gillian Foster. Did Cal lose his phone again?"

"You could say that. How do you know him?"

"He's my boyfriend, lover, whatever you want to call it...and we work together, why?" Gill said, suddenly suspicious.

The woman on the other end of the line gasped before continuing.

"Really? Because as Mrs. Lightman, I thought I would know if my husband had a girlfriend."

Gillian gasped and nearly dropped the phone.

"Cal's married? Oh my gosh. I didn't know, I swear. He said he was divorced."

"He told me he worked with a guy named Joel."

"What a..." Gill trailed off, not exactly sure how to define Cal.

"Cheating bastard?" Zoe suggested.

"There has to be something we can do to make this right," Gillian said.

Zoe sighed into the phone and said that the only way to make it right was to make sure he never cheated again. Gill knew she meant it as a joke, so there was silence as both woman considered the option. And finally, at the same time, they both said,

"Let's do it."

Some time later, Gill ended the call. She knew what she had to do. That's didn't mean that she was happy about it. She dropped her phone into the couch and sank down, letting angry tears fall.

There was a knock on the door, and Gill knew who it was. Making no effort to dry her tears, she answered the door. Cal stepped into her apartment with a box of deluxe chocolate ice cream. He set it down and pulled Gill into a hug.

"What's wrong love?" Gill just shook her head. She had no way to explain to him what she was feeling.

"Your headache that bad?"

"Yeah," Gill managed to choke out. Luckily for her, Cal couldn't see her face. He put the ice cream in the freezer for another time, and then scooped Gill up in his arms and carried her to bed. Gill forced her headache away as Cal kissed her. She grabbed frantically at him, even knowing that he wasn't really hers. She had to have one last time.

"Are you sure, love? We can wait until you're feeling better, " Cal said as Gill's hands were about to unbuckle his belt. In answer she kissed him again. Gillian had her last time with him, and when it was over, he asked if she wanted him to stay.

"I need sleep Cal. I'll see you at the office," Gill mumbled sleepily. Cal let himself out, presumably to go home to his wife. This thought filled Gillian's eyes with angry tears again.

By morning, the tears were gone and the anger hidden.

That night, Cal went home early. Gill called on her work phone, telling him she was at a bar and she needed him. It was late. As she knew he would, he came right away. He bought round after round of drinks for them, getting drunker by the minute. Gill knew he wondered why she had asked him to come, but she provided no answer. Surely business partners didn't need a reason to get completely drunk at a bar together? What Cal didn't know was about to hurt him.

Gillian wasn't the least bit drunk. She had been drinking root beer all night.

In his drunken state, Cal never noticed when she took his drink. She took a sip and grinned at him, carefully dropping the powder in as she handed it back to him.

After that drink, she dragged him out of the bar. Depositing him in front in the front seat of her new black Cadillac, she drove to his house, and watched him struggle up the walk. Her task was done. She went home to sleep off the sugar.


	3. Chapter 3: Zoe and Gillian

**A/N: So, the next chapters of this were my attempt at typing... let's just say it went badly. I typed the story, but I won't be typing for a while. That's really bad. But yeah. On the bright side, I have a chapter of Spring Lies, Summer Changes all written, just needs to be typed, and I have two other short stories written. Hopefully I'll be able to post soon! **

Zoe and Gillian two months later:

Zoe zipped up her black dress and stepped into plain black shoes. She pulled a shirt out of a shopping bag and went to wake Emily up. It only fueled her anger when she saw the tear tracks on her only daughter's face.

"Here you go, Em. Get dressed. We're leaving in half an hour."

Emily didn't acknowledge Zoe at all, but she got up and took the shirt.

Across the city, Gillian was applying makeup to hide her tears. She slipped on her shoes and swept her purse and veil from the table as she left her apartment.

Zoe was waiting in the car when Emily finally came outside. Em looked at her shoes all along the path to the car. She got in and wiped her eyes on the sleeve of the new shirt Zoe had given her. It said 'Daddy's little girl.'

Originally Zoe had told Emily she couldn't have it, because black was too morbid a color for such a little girl to wear, but after speaking with Gillian, she had returned to the mall and bought the shirt.

Gill got into her car and drove eventually falling into line behind another black Cadillac exactly like hers. A few more cars joined the funeral parade, including the one with Cal's body. Gillian sighed.

Zoe noticed when the second black Cadillac pulled into line behind her. She knew who that was. Of course Cal would have bought them both the same car. Of course.

When they got to the graveyard, the headlights lit up dark spots on the stones in a creepy fashion as they drove through. On the far side of the cemetery, they stopped. Gillian got out of her car and stood staring at the place that Cal would call home from now on. Other people, friends and co-workers, arrived and joined Gill.

Zoe got Emily out of the car just as the casket was lowered into place. Emily's face was stained with tears, but Zoe would not cry. Not now, not today. The women in the two black veils would not cry.

The preacher started with a prayer, and then spoke about how good Cal was. How tragic his sudden death was, and how terrible it was for the authorities to take so long to return his body.

Gillian wasn't quite comprehending what the preacher said, but one line stuck.

"He was a good man." Sure, Cal helped a lot of people. That much was true.

Gill refocused when Cal's oldest friend, Terry, began to speak.

"He was my best friend. The kind of best friend that everyone wanted."

When the last prayer was said, most of the group was crying. Terry, Cal's friend, Emily, Cal's daughter, even Loker. But not Gillian or Zoe. They didn't bother to cry.

Zoe stepped forward and laid a rose on top of the casket and whispered,

"Bye." That was all she could say.;

Gill followed Zoe, laying a rose down and whispering,

"Bye, bye." So much for being childish in an idiotically happy way.

Emily laid a daisy between the two roses, and Gill and Zoe each threw a handful of dirt down. Cal wasn't the only one hiding a secret.

"Bye bye Daddy," Emily sobbed. Zoe put her arm around her daughter, trying to comfort her.

Gill looked at Zoe and Zoe looked at Gill. They had never met, and would never meet again. Zoe smiled darkly at Gill, who smiled back. Then Gillian walked away. She got in her car and drove, and she didn't look back.

Zoe took Emily's hand and led her back to the car. The secret was going to stay with Cal forever.

**A/N: Three chapters left, about 650 words total, but I want to keep the point of view switches in different chapters. I think it makes more sense that way. So, three to go. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4: Cal

_Cal_:

He had never meant to fall in love with Gillian. But it happened. It was kind of love at first sight, so he told her he was divorced. It explained away the wedding ring, had he ever forgotten to take it off, and it explained Emily. The best lies always come from truth.

He had never meant to start a business with her, and with that, become physically unfaithful. He told Zoe he worked with Joel because of the phonetic similarity. It was a safe guard in case he ever messed up.

When they started the company, Cal bought and paid for Gillian's work phone. He put that number in his phone under the name Joel. So if Zoe ever snooped, she would never know. He put lots of money into the company, making random donations here and there, so when he took money out to pay for dates and things for Gillian, it wouldn't quite be stealing. He used the company as a filter to keep Zoe off his tail.

For his and Zoe's wedding anniversary, he bought her a brand new shiny black Cadillac. Three weeks later, for his anniversary with Gillian, he bought her the same car.

He could read both his wife and his lover, but he was the only one. Their secret was safe with him.

**A/N: Hopefully this chapter wasn't too weird, given that Cal's dead and all... :(**

**A/N: This may seem like a somewhat odd request... and it is completely unrelated. I am working on a novel, and have set it in Deerfield Beach, FL. If anyone has been/lives near there and would like to help me out answering some questions, please PM me. It would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.**


	5. Chapter 5: Zoe

**A/N: And we return to Zoe! Hope you enjoy & that this answers some questions! Please review!**

Zoe:

She made some calls and pulled some strings. In days she had a job, high up at a law firm in Chicago. She and Emily were sitting on the couch in the living room. They had been watching TV, but the show ended, and Zoe turned off the TV, so now they were just sitting there.

"Em, we're going to go away for a while. It'll make it easier to adjust." Emily just stared at Zoe.

"We're moving."

"Yes, darling. This house, this city will just keep reminding us of him." Em wasn't convinced.

"But all my friends are here."

"You'll make new friends in Chicago," Zoe said.

"But what about Daddy? He's not going to come."

Emily sounded so much younger, and that didn't help Zoe in her attempt to find an answer.

"No, he's not. But he'll always be with you, Em, if you want him to be. He'll be in your heart."

Emily put a hand to her chest and looked up at Zoe. Her eyes clouded over with tears and she ran from the room. Zoe moved to follow but stopped when Emily's bedroom door slammed shut.

Zoe visited Cal's grave only once before she and Emily left for Chicago. She stood in the empty graveyard before Cal's stone and said,

"For someone so obsessed with the truth, you certainly told a lot of lies." Then she left, and she never looked back.


	6. Chapter 6: Gillian

**A/N: Last chapter! Hope you guys have enjoyed the story! Please review!**

Gill returned to work the day after the funeral. She took over ownership, and yet there was little change. Eventually, Gill found and hired another natural to work with her. she needed a new partner to get back in the field, and she really couldn't stand office work. Now that Cal wasn't blowing money, they could afford an accountant, and people to take care of the business aspect. There was change, but it wasn't a big deal. However, the employees of The Lightman Group, (yes, they still called it that) found that they missed Cal's irritating presence. Gill especially, but even Loker admitted to missing him. Only once, but once was enough.

One rainy morning, Gill planted red and yellow flowers at Cal's grave. She cried, and her tears mixed with the rain falling into the new grass. She knelt in the cold rain, hands covered in dirt for a long time. This time though, there was no anger, only sadness. He was gone.

The storm worsened, and Gillian finally seemed to realize where she was. Her last words before she left were drowned out by the thunder, but buried deep below, Cal heard them.

"I love you."

Love, not loved. She had already forgiven him. Now it was time to move on.


End file.
